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Back The Other Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. OCTOBER 2014 London, UK
  4. PART ONE
  5. FEBRUARY 1976 London, UK
  6. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  7. FEBRUARY 1976 London, UK
  8. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  9. MARCH 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  10. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  11. MARCH 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  12. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  13. MARCH 1976 Lausanne/Bern, Switzerland
  14. JUNE 2016 Lausanne, Switzerland
  15. MARCH 1976 London, UK
  16. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  17. MARCH 1976 London, UK
  18. PART TWO
  19. APRIL 1976 London, UK
  20. JUNE 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  21. APRIL 1976 Oxfordshire/London, UK
  22. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  23. MAY 1976 London, UK
  24. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  25. MAY 1976 London, UK
  26. JULY 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  27. JUNE 1976 London, UK
  28. JULY 2016 Lausanne/Montreux, Switzerland
  29. JUNE 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  30. JULY 2016 Thun/Reichenbach, Switzerland
  31. JULY 1976 London, UK
  32. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  33. PART THREE
  34. AUGUST 1976 London, UK
  35. AUGUST 2016 Lausanne, Switzerland
  36. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  37. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  38. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  39. AUGUST 2016 Montreux, Switzerland
  40. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  41. AUGUST 2016 Montreux/Lutry, Switzerland
  42. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  43. AUGUST 2016 Lutry, Switzerland
  44. SEPTEMBER 1976 Lausanne, Switzerland
  45. AUGUST 2016 Lutry, Switzerland
  46. OCTOBER 1976 London, UK
  47. AUGUST 2016 Vevey, Switzerland
  48. SEPTEMBER 2016 London, UK
  49. Author’s Note
  50. Acknowledgements
  51. More from the Author
  52. About the Author

‘Hedi,’ Anna said suddenly, pulling out of Sylvia’s arms.

Sylvia cocked her head. ‘Your baby?’ She made a rocking motion with her arms.

‘Ja. Hedi. Meine Tochter.’ My daughter.

They left later that day, Jessica in a painfully expensive new baby carrier Jim had picked up in a Lausanne department store. Sylvia went over to Anna and kissed her goodbye, leaving her with a carrier bag filled with muslin cloths and bottles and nappies.

‘Some things I can’t carry on the train,’ she said. ‘Für dich.’

They walked towards the door, Jim carrying their daughter in a basket. Sylvia turned back and waved, her heart aching to see tears once again streaming down the girl’s face. And just like that, they were gone.

AUGUST 2016 Lutry, Switzerland

JESS

We walk in silence towards the other end of the promenade. From time to time Anna glances at me, a tentative smile on her face. Part of me wants to smile back, to pull her into a hug and tell her it’s okay, I understand. But the other part of me isn’t sure I can, just yet. It’s all too much to take in. I’m still trying to process the fact that this is my birth mother, in the flesh, walking beside me. I try to imagine her back then, so young, so scared, so neglected by those who should have cared.

We pass the ice-cream stall at the end of the promenade and walk on past the sailboats in the harbour to the children’s playground, where two toddlers are fighting over a swing. I could have played here, with her. She could have pushed me on that swing, while Mum and Dad pushed another little girl in another life that I had instead of her.

‘Who is she?’ I ask, surprised I haven’t already. But then again, there are so many things I need to ask I think it’s going to take a lifetime. ‘My parents’ biological daughter, the baby you brought up?’

Anna pauses, looks at me. ‘Hedi,’ she says.

Hedi. I swill the name around in my mouth. The name that should have been mine. It’s alien to me. I’m not a Hedi.

‘She doesn’t know,’ she says.

I stop on the path.

‘We never told her. We decided it was for the best. We didn’t want to disrupt her life, didn’t want to cause her pain.’

My head spins. ‘We?’ I say. ‘You mean Daniel knew all along, too?’